Computer Science and It's Influence on Music Composition

 

James Loui, Verrazzano Class of 2020, completed major in Computer Science

In the fall of 2018, I took the opportunity to research how the field of computer science had a role in the composition process of music. This journey was quite the endeavor since I was not certain how it was going to go, but I can say now that it was one worth taking. I was able to learn how computer systems played a major role in relation to the composition process of music, which I touched upon in the literature review section of my project.

I searched to find sources that related to computer systems for music composition since this concept was new to me. I learned of a proposed automated system that would give a choice on what type of music to listen to depending on the user’s desire, and a computational architecture that would modify music based on a form of input user data that it received. My capstone project’s program was influenced from this information and incorporated several ideas that facilitated my capstone project’s program.

This capstone project has given me the opportunity to learn about music theory and programming language that has a connection to music. Learning music theory and the programming language, including its libraries, has enabled me to learn how to compose music and modify it accordingly. This project also has given me the opportunity to meet with professionals in the music field who have assisted me in learning music theory and have given me advice on how to proceed with some major steps in this capstone project. I feel the project allowed me to develop a growing interest as well as the skill set necessary to pursue a career in the arts/entertainment field that relates to music composition. If I were to continue pursuing this research, I would learn more about machine learning and its involvement in the process of modifying music.